Mason has pink cheeks!

I got here this morning and they had extubated (got the breathing tube out) him. Yay! He seems happier than yesterday, but still uncomfortable. Thank goodness for pain medicine, it helps calm him down. His coloring is much better today. He even has pink cheeks! The next hurdle will be this afternoon when he can start to get food. He still has chest tubes in so I won't be able to nurse him. Hopefully he is hungry enough to take a bottle of my pumped milk while laying in the crib. He has become so picky. If he won't the dr. said he may have to get an NG tube back in for a few days. I hope not though, he does not like those NG's. Also, he did weigh in at 11 lb's 2 oz. yesterday before surgery! Good job Mason. Thanks for all the comments and thoughts of love and support. Love Summer

not ready to go with out the vent yet.

Mason's not quite ready to lose the breathing tube yet. The docs decided to let him rest tonight and try again in the morning. We are so exhausted, and need to try and get some sleep. Will update more tomorrow.

Mason is a bit cranky!

We have just spent the last few hours with Mason. He is quite cranky and you can tell he does not feel very good. They say he most likely has a major headache. We also found out he lost quite a lot of blood when they finished surgery, that is what took Dr. Kouretas a while longer to come talk to us. Probably because of the Lovenox shots(blood thinner) he has been on for that clot. Yay, no more shots, because of he disappearing act the clot has performed! Anyways he has had 2 blood transfusions and the bleeding has slowed way down. So now they are doing spontaneous trials to get him off the ventalator. Yes, already!! Much quicker than the first surgery. Hopefully he will do well and get it out. I think he will feel much better with out that down his throat. He gets quite agitated with us around. He knows we are standing there, even all the pain meds. I know he just wants us to snuggle him and Oh how i want too! maybe tomorrow they said! Wow that would be quick compared to last time, but certainly wonderful.

I forgot the computer attachment to post a picture. So if we go home tonight we will do it then. Thanx for all your support.

Surgery is done!

Mason is doing well! At 12:oo Bonnie,came to tell us they were done operating and had just taken him off the heart, lung bypass machine . and that Dr kouretas would be out to talk to us in an hour when they were done in the operating room.

At 1:15 Dr. Kouretas came out and said all went well! He also said that he would have removed the clot, but it was gone! What a miracle. He was on the bypass machine 100 minutes and came off well. We are going to see him right now in the PICU. We had to wait an hour. Will post with anything new. Thanx for all your prayers. Sincerely, Summer

Surgery Day

So, we got here at 6am and then at 7am Dr. Kouretas came to visit us and explained what he planned to do during Mason's surgery. In addition to the normal Glenn procedure, connecting the Superior vena ceva to the pulmonary artery, he also plans to do some repair on his tricuspid valve because there is mild to moderate leakage. This is more than we had known about, but we know he will do what's best for our baby.

At 7:40 we said our goodbyes and gave Mason kisses, then they took him to the operating room.

At 9:00 they called to tell us that they had him all prepped, had his lines in and they were about to get started.

At 10:00 Bonnie, the Cardiothorasic N.P., came to tell us they had just got him on the heart-lung(bypass) machine, because of scar tissue it took a little longer this time to get to the area they will be working on, and then they started the Bypass.

At 11:00 Bonnie came to tell us he did the repair on the valve, and now was beginning to work on the SVC attachment (Glenn). He will probably be in surgery untill 1pm.

Tommorow is the big day.

We went to Primary's today for all of Mason's preop blood tests and x-rays. All went well so we returned home so Mason could sleep in his own bed for one more night before surgery. We have to have him back at the hospital by 6am tomorrow morning. His surgery is scheduled for 7:30am and will take 4-5 hours. They will be doing the Glenn, which is stage 2 of the Hypoplastic Left Heart palliation procedure. They say he will have a major headache for several days after, because he will have an increased blood flow to the upper half of his body, which he is not used to. Although, finally he will have pink cheeks! This will be a very long day, but we know little Mason is being watched over and will feel our Heavenly Father's love and comfort! Please continue to pray that all goes well. We have true faith in the power of prayer.

Also there has been a trust fund set up on behalf of Mason Andrew Strickland at Wellsfargo bank. To donate you can call or visit any Wellsfargo branch. Mason may reach his lifetime insurance out of pocket before he is 3 years old! We appreciate any donations. This fund will help pay for future medical costs. Thank you.

Heart Poem

I love this poem. It helps me put life into real perspective, especially Mason's. I read it to our family the day of Mason's blessing. Sorry if it makes you cry!

TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVES
It's a beautiful day up in heaven. Jesus is rounding up his tiniest angels, to go live on earth, and be born. One of the sweetest angels says to Jesus "I don't want to leave, I like it here, and I will miss you". He reassures the scared little angel that everything will be okay, and that she is just going for a visit. She is still not swayed on this idea. So Jesus kneels down, and says, "How about if you leave half of your heart here with me and take the other half with you, will that be okay?" The angel smiles and says, "I guess that will work". But the little angel is still a little scared. She asks,"Will I be okay with only half of my heart?" Jesus replies,"Of course you will, I have other angels there that will help out, and you will be fine." Then Jesus gives the angel more details about his plan. He says "When you are born, your mommy will be scared, so you have to be strong, and when you feel weak just remember that I have the other half of your heart". "Enjoy your time with your family, play and laugh everyday." "And when its time to come back to heaven, I will make your heart whole again. Always remember that you are not broken, just torn between two loves."

We love you so much Mason!

Mason is 6 months old!

(1) Mason sits in my bathroom sink while I get ready for the day.

(2)Mason is just a few days shy of 6 months old in this photo & loves to play w/ his hands.

Happy 6 months old b-day Mason ! (Last Friday , May 3oth, actually). Wow! alot has happened in the last six months. But, what we are most grateful for is.. each and everyday we have had with our little Mason and being able to watch him become such a special little person. He lights up when our other kids talk to him and play with him. He smiles at everyone. He is so irresistibly cute, so that's why he can get away with wanting to be held all the time! We love the sweetness he adds to our home. Mason we love you!

His surgery is still planned for next Monday, June 9th. We take him in on Sunday for preop tests etc.. We plan to be there about 2 weeks this time (I sure hope). It breaks my heart to think about him being opened up again & going through this all over again. Although, I know its time, he is needing O2 most of the time now, and just does not feel well. I just have to remind myself we are not sent trials that we can not handle!! Mason is so strong! Stronger than me! Please remember him in your prayers, especially on Monday.

So, summer vacation has started hear in Utah, and my sanity is being tested! But, I must say Mason loves having his brothers and sister around. It's just my energetic Ammon who is always trying to compete with Mason for my attention. Life would be quite dull without that though, right? And so here's the good news, we just hired a much needed "mother's helper"(we were unable to find someone to live in our basement for trade). She is a neighbor and my kids already love her. We are so excited, Thanx Sami for excepting the job! Thanx also to all those who are helping with our kids during the surgery week.

Mason Has a Blog at Last!

Due to great request by all of Mason Andrew's loving friends and family he finally has his very own blog. Thanks to my dear friend Mandee who helped me put it together, okay... actually she did it all, but taught me how to do it now. We pasted in all the e-mails I've sent out since Mason was born so you can follow his whole journey since we were so blessed to have him born into our family. We love Mason so much and hope his story will touch your hearts as much as he touches ours each and every day!

Mason is doing pretty good as we await his Glen Surgery in 2 weeks. He is on and off of oxygen right now, just depending on the day. Today he seems to be feeling pretty good without any extra O2, which makes life a little easier I have to admit! Now if I could just get him to sleep more than 2 hours at a time during the night. I guess he still thinks he needs to make up for lost snuggling time from his first 7 weeks of life, but I think we've well made up for that by now!

I will post more pictures soon.

Better Days

Mason is feeling much much better and we are back home. Surgery is scheduled for June 9th still, since his oxygen sats are way back upafter his blood transfusion.

We will update with anything new.

Sincerely,
Summer